Martingale Asset Management L P Decreases Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Martingale Asset Management L P lessened its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 12.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 201,604 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,920 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P owned about 0.06% of Kimberly-Clark worth $28,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.2% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $825,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 0.9% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the third quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 5,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $139.20 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $117.67 and a 52 week high of $149.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $138.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.21.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on KMB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.93.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets personal care and consumer tissue products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The company’s Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swimpants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, reusable underwear, and other related products under the Huggies, Pull-Ups, Little Swimmers, GoodNites, DryNites, Sweety, Kotex, U by Kotex, Intimus, Thinx, Poise, Depend, Plenitud, Softex, and other brand names.